


Time Wizard Eat Your Heart Out

by Paisleylace



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Genre: AU, Angst, Gen, M/M, Time Travel, Time travel mcguffin, Timeline Shenanigans, a little violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-05
Updated: 2017-01-26
Packaged: 2018-05-18 09:50:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 15,004
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5923975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Paisleylace/pseuds/Paisleylace
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Reset the timeline as often as you like, but please make sure you don't take anyone with you by mistake. It's not very polite. Time Travel AU, repost from FF.net account.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Unbeta'd. I love a little time travel, don't you? This was supposed to be a oneshot and now it's not. Why does this keep happening?

When Jounouchi wakes up, he doesn't know what to do with himself. He's dreaming, he has to be, there's no way that damn machine worked as the world collapsed around them. He's not trapped in his dad's apartment again and he's not some schoolboy who's never considered adding anything but monster cards to his deck.

He's a seasoned tournament vet, master of a finely tuned deck with cards that don't even exist yet. He's begrudgingly helping Kaiba beta test an upgrade to the Duel Disk that can be used in motion, getting dragged down to the labs by Mokuba before he can get into a fight with Kaiba again to look at this new machine he's invented, hey why's the building shaking?

He finds the device in his pocket, about the same size as a standard deck. It still has Kaiba's ash coated fingerprints on it from where he'd forced it into Jounouchi's hands and begged him - fucking _begged him_ \- to just go because he wouldn't leave without Mokuba even though Mokuba was already...

Zorc was defeated. He was supposed to be long gone, destroyed. But he'd re-erupted from nothing and swallowed their city whole in what felt like both forever and only a few moments.

Maybe some tiny piece of the Thief King had lingered, corrupted Zorc the same way that had been done to him. Some tiny shred of a person that had somehow survived sixteen years of hell as an orphan on the streets of ancient Egypt then three thousand years trapped in the darkness. Jounouchi had seen one of the pits of Kul Elna that the Ishtars discovered once. He'd nearly puked at the jumble of twisted limbs and shattered skulls and some of them had clearly belonged to babies and this was the Thief King's entire _family_ and the ones who died here were _lucky_ , because the others had all become gold. All except one who witnessed everything.

The Thief King was gone even before the Ceremonial Duel, his soul either trapped in nothingness or in the peaceful afterlife and he prayed to every god he'd ever heard of that it was the latter, because at least if he was there he might not ever want to come back. Besides, the gods had seriously dropped the ball with him - surely there was some kinda 'we fucked up, have a comfy spot on this cloud as an apology' policy or something.

Without that tether, that leash that granted him a link to the concept of human minds and not just their hearts, Zorc was completely mindless as he reformed. He was an elephant crushing ants in the grass as he walked, he was the crushing tide of an endless tsunami. He wasn't a foe to outsmart, he was a force of nature and Domino didn't stand a chance. Maybe Zorc wasn't even aware that he'd reformed, and wouldn't that just be the kicker?

He steps over a few shattered bottles to check the calendar, careful not to disturb his snoring father and it's a little disturbing how easy it is to go back to old habits. He'd been living with Yugi for the last few years, they had an apartment together in Domino. Hopefully resetting had erased the timeline he came from, because he didn't want to think about Yugi trying to find him in the chaos.

If he remembers correctly, it's the day that Bakura first transferred to their school. Meaning everyone has survived Death T, Hirutani, Ushio...

He's friends with Yugi and he bites the inside of his cheek to keep from crying at relief, because he doesn't think he could go through seeing Yugi all alone again, for Yugi to be beaten for him or be anything less than happy to see him. He's friends with Anzu and he's still friends with Honda. He's met Atem, but then again he's not really Atem yet. He's still 'the other Yugi'. He's about to meet Bakura, and the damn Thief King. Kaiba's comatose but he'll wake up eventually and Mokuba is alive. A little more murderous than any brat his age should be, but alive. Maybe they'll be able to stop him from being stolen by Pegasus this time.

Jounouchi never makes it to school. He meets Bakura on the way there and of course he's not _Bakura_ , weird-but-nice Bakura who really needs to learn to talk to his friends when he's in trouble (although if they're not listening, how can he?), he's the Thief King.

Jounouchi might be a decent fighter now and Bakura was never built to brawl but the Thief King has a knife and doesn't give a shit about giving his opponents a fair shot. Jounouchi slumps against the alley wall grasping at his side where the blade sliced into his back and tries to glare at the enraged spirit. Key word tries; he can barely see straight.

Or maybe the spirit's not angry, maybe he's fucking hysterical with fear because at least he was _himself_ in nothingness and now he's hopelessly entangled with Zorc again, trapped within the gold made of his people and _why did you do this to me?!_

The device isn't broken and the world blurs and darkens as he flicks the switch and the Thief King lunges with the blade once more.

* * *

 When Jounouchi wakes up, he bolts from his bed and out the door in a blink. He doesn't want to hurt Bakura (or hell, even the Thief King) and if he wants a chance to explain what's happening or why he came back, to even apologize for sending the Thief King back into hell he's got to survive a little longer this time.

* * *

 The Thief King kills him a few more times, a little slower and a little less frenzied with each reset, before he doesn't even bother sliding the knife into him, just pressing the blade under his chin now that he's cornered Jounouchi behind some book store. He's given up, any genuine blood lust giving way to a haunting emptiness, Jounouchi can see it in his eyes. He gulps, the metal cold against his throat.

"Are you gonna listen to me now, or is the seventh time the charm for this whole song and dance routine?"

The blade clatters as it hits the ground and he slumps against Jounouchi and he takes that as a yes. He's not sure how aware Zorc is right now but he hopes the creature is still dormant as he puts his arms around the Thief King's now trembling shoulders and tries to forget that this is probably the first gentle touch he's had for millennia, maybe even ever.


	2. Chapter 2

"What was he doing with a _time machine_?"

"Hell if I know. Maybe he figured he could get one last rematch with Atem."

"But that's impossible! Time travel's way too complicated! You can't just use a tiny box like that to rewind the _universe!_ "

"Know what else I thought was impossible? Fuckin' _ghosts possessing people_!"

They sound like a pair of comic book nerds arguing about the realism of their favorite's backstory. He almost wonders if they could've gotten away with this conversation in public, letting everyone assume the same thing.

The silent decision to skip school that day bugs Jounouchi, but neither the Thief King nor Bakura look up to it. They're back at Bakura's place, all three of them. He's gonna have hell to pay from Honda later for not telling him and Anzu and Yugi will worry, but maybe Bakura can help him come up with an excuse.

Bakura remembers too. The sheer confusion over what was going on and the Thief King's overwhelming hysteria were the only reasons he hadn't been able to retake control immediately. Once the Thief King had calmed down, he didn't even try to stop his host from reasserting himself.

They're on his couch, a empty bag of takeout in front of them. Bakura doesn't look too afraid or upset that he's a host, but then again he's always been good at hiding things. Jounouchi has a feeling the Thief King won't be pushing him around anymore, regardless - the person he'd dealt with in the alley was nothing like the monster he remembers. The Millennium Ring rests on Bakura's lap, the string not around his neck, but the fact that he's even touching the thing, even in the same _building_ with it after everything the Thief King put him through...

Having someone else around makes the destruction of Domino all too real (and the look on Bakura's face when he asked what he remembered of it had him wanting to reset until he remembered Bakura would still remember), but it also means he's not alone.

How, or why? He doesn't care to think about it - might jinx himself. There's always the chance neither of them or only one of them will remember if he ever needs to reset. Not that he's planning on it unless a certain someone gets stab-happy again.

Who else remembers? His dad obviously doesn't, so maybe Shizuka doesn't either. He'll have to save her eyes again either way. In a way he's glad, because this time he _knows_ she'll be just fine going into surgery. Maybe this time, she'll see something nice.

It could be a Millennium Item thing, but then again surely either Yugi or ... the other Yugi would've made contact already, unless they both think they're alone - but surely they'd have noticed the bizarre absence of both himself and Bakura. Same with the others.

Bakura clears away the debris from their food, leaving him alone with the Ring for a moment. It looks entirely innocent, just a lump of gold. If he touches it, would the Thief King feel it?

He doesn't get the chance to find out, since Bakura comes back with tea, moving the Ring to the coffee table. He's not much of a tea person, even though Bakura made it sweet, but he can appreciate the warmth.

"You and Yugi didn't happen to play any time travel themed RPGs, didja?"

"No, mostly just high fantasy."

"Damn. I figured you two might've made a time travel password or somethin', just for fun."

"That would've been wise. Should we make one?"

"Sure. How about... one of us says 'Seventh time's the charm' and the other says 'Looks more like eight to me'?"

"It's a little long, don't you think? How are we supposed to slip that into casual conversation anyway?"

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it!"

Bakura doesn't look too impressed, but he nods anyway. Whatever - Jounouchi thinks it's pretty clever.

He won't find out if Kaiba does until he wakes up from his coma and he hopes Mokuba doesn't have to go through remembering his own death anytime soon, it's not fun. Especially when it's more than once.

Maybe Malik will (oh god, _Malik_. Is he still down in the tombs, or is he terrorizing the underground already? What about the _other_ Malik?), or Isis with the Necklace.

"Aw, hell," he mutters, sinking into the couch.

"What?"

"I just remembered all the shit we've got comin'. Pegasus, Otogi, _Malik_..."

Bakura joins him in slumping over. It's not comfy in the slightest but Jounouchi can't muster up the will to make it so.

"And us."

"You think the Thief King's gonna try the same trick twice?"

Bakura sighs as he looks at the Ring. "No, but I think we won't have a choice in the matter if we want to help Yugi and Atem. I mean, why else would we be sent to such a specific date?"

Oh. Right. The RPG game was when Yugi and Atem really first met. The first time they confirmed the other existed, even though they weren't really able to talk to each other just yet. If they remembered each other, no problem. But if they didn't, or if only one of them did...

"Besides," Bakura continues, looking pointedly at the Ring, "even after all that, we still need to deal with Zorc."

As if a switch had been thrown somewhere, the Ring goes _ballistic,_ scratching and scraping at the glass top of the table like that demon was in the room right now. Bakura grabs it almost on reflex, wincing as one of the needle points leaves a jagged slash across his palm. He sucks air in his teeth, but doesn't let go and shakes his head at Jounouchi when he tries to take it off him.

"Bakura-"

"Shh!"

He works his hand around until they're safely out of reach of the frantic needles, the uninjured one holding it by the string. It's helpless in the air and as each second crawls past the swaying slows and the needles eventually cease their slicing, twitching every so often instead.

"Are you there? Give me some sort of sign, if you can."

The Ring doesn't react, now completely still.

"Not for nothin', but I don't think _he_ wouldn't have any trouble pretending to be the Thief King."

"His name is Bakura."

Jounouchi ignores how un-Egyptian a name 'Bakura' is as Bakura lowers the Ring back down again, returning it to his lap. His other hand's still bleeding though the cut itself looks pretty shallow.

"I can't call you both Bakura, that's just confusing."

"I know, but'd be weird if you called me by my first name in front of everyone, when we've only just met."

Then Bakura looks away, almost shy. "Besides, it's not like you usually use my first name anyway, or me yours. The only person who did was Yugi, and he didn't do that until you two moved in together."

It's the past tense that riles him. The Yugi he knew was _dead._ The Yugi in this world, if he doesn't remember anything, might never be like his Yugi simply by Jounouchi's presence as someone who knows what's coming, rather than someone who's as surprised by all the twists and turns yet to come.

But Yugi is still _Yugi_.

"Bakura," he says carefully. "Do me a favor and _never_ refer to Yugi in the past tense ever again."

He doesn't flinch, or even react at all, like he was expecting this to happen at some point. "Sorry."

Then he finally notices his hand. "I need to take care of this, I guess."

Jounouchi pretends not to notice that he's taken the Ring with him.

* * *

 He's no master of reading people like Bakura, but he can tell the Thief King's in control if only because Bakura would never hesitate at the sight of him when he finally emerges from the bathroom, looking a little bit green around the gills.

When Jounouchi stays put, he relaxes just a bit, though the couch remains a barrier between the two. He leans on the door, but it's not like he's trying to slouch all arrogantly, like the wannabe thugs at school against the fence. It's as if all the life has left him and it's freaking Jounouchi out, to be honest. He's never had to deal with someone giving up on _everything_.

He can't imagine what it feels like for the Thief King as Zorc rots his soul again. It must be so much harder this time, since the memory of being free and himself, even if only shreds remained, is still fresh in his memory and not dulled by three thousand years of nothing else.

"Reset."

His voice is somehow even softer than Bakura's now, and that's just plain _weird._

"Fuck no."

"Do it or I'll stab you again."

"As if Bakura would let you. Hell, even if you manage to keep him down long enough to do it, when when we DO reset Bakura's gonna throw you in the river and you'll be stuck there 'til we need you."

Amazingly that shuts him up for a moment, like he thinks Bakura actually would. Evidently he's remembered not to underestimate his host, especially not one that's had several years to mature his mind and strengthen himself even more.

But Bakura's not that cruel, even to someone like the Thief King. To be honest, neither is Jounouchi. It's weird. Maybe he's given up a bit as well, on bothering to keep hating the Thief King. Even if he's literally killed him a couple of times.

Eh. He was on neutral terms with Kaiba at the end and Malik was alright the few times they met and they both tried to kill him.

The moment of silence ends all too quickly, but not the way Jounouchi thinks it would. " _Please._ "

"Why should I?"

He looks down at Bakura's hand, the now bandaged one. It's the same one that had the starburst scar from the RPG game, the one that always ached in the cold.

Then Jounouchi gets it. "I'm not resetting every time he scrapes his knee, man."

"I know."

But that one's his fault, Jounouchi thinks to himself, and rolls his eyes. "Fine. But this is the only freebie you get, understand? I don't want Bakura to be stuck with a scar either. Be more careful because next time, you owe me."

The Thief King nods.

* * *

 When Jounouchi wakes up, the first thing he does is text Bakura. But he's from an era where texting has moved on from using the number pad to touchscreen. He can always reset if Bakura's response is just confusion.

_fuk it dif pw - j_

He can hear his father snoring downstairs as he waits for the reply.

_Told you it should've been shorter._


	3. Chapter 3

"The RPG has to be a Shadow Game. It can't just be a normal game."

"You're kiddin' me."

Bakura sighs over the phone. It's a long walk to school and the streets are quiet - Jounouchi's not going to run into anyone who'll try to interrupt.

Following the timeline as it is seems to be the safest option for now, but surely they can change _some_ things around. Jounouchi has no interest in becoming a sculpture again.

"If you have another way of drawing out the other Yugi out so they can acknowledge each other as separate entities, I'm all ears. There's a reason we were brought back to this date - it's a vital stepping stone in Yugi's life. He won't emerge unless Yugi feels like he or his friends are in danger, you know that. Bakura's the best we've got in order to make that happen."

Damn. And here he was hoping they could skip that little incident. "Wouldn't fixin' the Puzzle be more important? Why weren't we sent there, anyway?"

"That was probably too volatile an event to mess around with, on a spiritual level. The RPG was - is - much safer for us to change without erasing the vital part of the event."

Bakura certainly sounds confident, but Jounouchi's not convinced. He always was good at pretending he wasn't in over his head. The device is heavy in his pocket and Jounouchi wonders how much that applies to himself too.

"I get the feeling you're just makin' shit up as you go along here."

"Pretty much. But if it works it works, right?"

Jounouchi can't help snorting. Bakura's never one for tact either, even when it comes to himself.

"... Alright. I'm countin' on you to keep Bakura on a short leash. No traps or rocks or traps made of rocks."

Bakura stifles a laugh, which Jounouchi feels like he hasn't heard for a long time. It's nice. "Not an issue. He's planning on surrendering before you reach the final boss regardless of how the Game goes. He thinks invoking **his** name might attract too much attention."

"Good call. See you later, I guess."

He's at the school gate by the time he hangs up, early like always. He's got his homework for the day done, apparently before the point that he resets at (which is great, because he understands it even less now. Not his fault he hasn't had to think about the Muromachi period in almost a decade!).

Usually, he'd wait at the school gate for the others to arrive. This time, he heads inside the moment the gates are unlocked and heads to class. He's the first one there and dumps his stuff on his desk without care.

Then he stands by the window and waits.

When he first catches sight of those familiar spikes he's so glad he decided to come inside rather than wait out for them, because he has to lean on the wall to keep upright and he has no idea how he could've explained his shaky legs to Yugi.

He's right _there_ , walking across the courtyard with his puzzle around his neck. He doesn't look concerned about anything. He's not glancing around wide-eyed remembering just how much the city managed to change from now, not a little ruffled from automatically trying to head down streets and shortcuts that flat out don't exist. He's not looking for anyone familiar and he's not imagining anyone's last moments play out in his head as he recognizes people, who's faces he'd never think he'd remember.

He doesn't look like someone who's seen how everything ends.

Jounouchi sighs. He shouldn't have snapped at Bakura in the last reset. He's got more experience dealing with 'normal' grief so it makes sense that he'd come around to everything better than him. How can you possibly mourn someone who's not dead yet as far as the universe is concerned?

Yugi _died._ So did Shizuka. Anzu and Honda. Grandpa and Yugi's mom, Mai, the Ishtars. Kaiba and Mokuba. Bakura died too. He retreats back to his desk and sits at his chair and slumps onto his arms. If anyone came in they would assume he was getting a few last moments of sleep before class started.

He doesn't bother lifting his head when the door slides open and someone comes in.

"Good morning Jounouchi!"

Oh god.

Now he's _really_ glad he wasn't outside because his eyes burn and tears prickle at the corners just at his voice. He subtly tries to wipe them away before he lifts his head, feigning a yawn.

"Mornin', Yugi."

Yugi looks concerned. He always was perceptive - no, Yugi _is_ perceptive.

They're both true statements. He hates it.

Yugi is dead but Yugi is alive. He can't call one 'his' Yugi, because they're both 'his' Yugi.

His head hurts.

"Are you feeling okay? You don't look so good."

"Nah, just another all-nighter. That essay was a real kick in the teeth, right?"

"Yeah, tell me about it! I couldn't find anything in the textbook at all. I even asked Mom and Grandpa for help and they had no idea."

Jounouchi grins - it's a little forced around the edges, but hopefully Yugi won't suspect anything beyond his headache. "I bet he gave us the wrong paper or somethin'. Maybe we'll all get a pass because he screwed up!"

That seems to appease Yugi, for now at least. Honda arrives next, ruffling his hair as he passes and Anzu is last, dashing in with the last few students a few seconds before the teacher comes in.

Kaiba's seat is empty, as he knew it would be. The seat next to Jounouchi is empty too.

* * *

 "Alright, settle down everyone. We have a new student joining us today. Please welcome Ryou Bakura!"

It's amazing how little changes from the first time around. The sound of a dozen or so students falling in love at first sight is hard to forget. Now that he's a little more sure in himself, he's not too embarrassed to admit he can see the appeal too.

There's a few differences though, that nobody else will pick up on. Bakura's more confident in his step and he stands a little taller. That air of melancholy he had the first time is practically non-existent, not that Jounouchi expected it to be there in the first place. He's not just biding his time until the next lot of friends end up in comas, after all. The cord of the Ring is around his neck, a little more visible than he thought it would be, though the Ring's outline isn't visible.

He meets Jounouchi's eyes for a fraction of a second, but then they might as well be strangers as he rattles off the standard introduction.

Jounouchi hadn't noticed the first time around, too busy evaluating the new kid, but there's a tiny flush appearing on Yugi's cheeks as he watches Bakura. That would've saved a lot of angst on Jounouchi's part in the future if he had and he wants to kick himself for not picking up on it sooner. They might've been able to have more time together, rather than dancing around in a mutual 'I don't want to ruin our friendship _but what if_ ' thing for way too long.

He's not doing anything this time around.

He can't.

He doesn't want to fall in love with Yugi again, because Yugi might still die at Zorc's hands and he knows he won't survive the man he loves dying a second time. Especially since this second time would be nothing but Jounouchi's fault, because he'd failed to stop Zorc's return.

Plus Yugi's like, _sixteen_. Jounouchi is physically the same age, but his mind is twenty five.

Even if by some miracle Yugi falls for him, when they're both older and the age gap not so impassable, he's got to say no. He'll only end up comparing him to Yugi. It's going to be tough - hell, it's _already_ tough - but he's just going to have to deal with it, isn't he?

Bakura is directed to sit by him again. A few classmates take it upon themselves to warn Bakura that Jounouchi's just a bad influence again, like they're not the ones who run around after school pretending they're a tough street gang and throwing rocks at passing cars. Bakura ignores them again, offering him a smile.

He appreciates it as much now as he did back then.


	4. Chapter 4

It's touch and go, especially dodging Karita, but eventually Bakura manages to break free of his crowd of fans while Jounouchi is able to sneak away from the others. They meet in a reasonably quiet stairwell, where nobody's going to be eavesdropping, although Bakura looks a little annoyed at something.

"We really should've planned this a little more. I can't think of a way to play out the Shadow Game that doesn't make Atem or Yugi distrust us forever without exactly recreating what happened to us, but Bakura's not willing to go that far and I won't make him."

If he means playing the final boss, or stabbing Bakura's hand again, Jounouchi's not sure. If he hadn't begged Jounouchi to reset over a cut, the latter would've never seemed possible.

Not trusting the Thief King is fine - hell, he might tolerate him now but there's no way he _trusts_ him - but the idea that Yugi might not trust _Bakura_ isn't something that's occurred to him before. Bakura was the first person who knew about him and Yugi getting together, he was the first person to know either one of them was gay. He was even the first person both of them separately went to at their first realization of how they felt towards the other.

It doesn't feel right.

"I say we just tell Yugi. I mean, if he recognizes Atem and all on his own, we might not have to play the Game at all."

Honesty is always something Jounouchi's valued, but Bakura still looks skeptical. Jounouchi tries again. "C'mon, it's worth a shot, right?"

"I guess I could try it. Frame it as one wielder helping another, maybe."

"'Frame' _nothin'_ , that's exactly what you're gonna do."

"And it _has_ been a long time since I played Monster World with everyone..."

Appealing to Bakura's nerdy nature works every time and Jounouchi knows he's got him.

Maybe one more push couldn't hurt though, just to be sure. "If he doesn't believe you, we can just reset, yeah?"

"Yeah."

They make it back to class just in time to dodge Karita again, and Jounouchi does his best to keep Anzu and Honda distracted while Bakura quietly asks Yugi if they can talk out in the hallway. Yugi's confused, but he doesn't suspect anything as he follows him out. It's better this way. He doesn't want to lie to Yugi any more than he already has to.

They're out there for a few minutes before Jounouchi senses something.

Maybe it's just intuition, but after so many Shadow Games, Jounouchi's pretty sure he's got a feel for them, like an old man who can tell when a storm's rolling in.

A cold crackle across your skin, the air getting just a little heavier. The shadows wavering at the edges as the Shadows push and pull them out of place. That same feeling crawls through the classroom but nobody else seems to notice. Even Anzu and Honda treat it like an odd, momentary shiver.

Something's gone wrong.

He hits the switch and wakes up in his bed again.

* * *

Being forced into an alley by an angry spirit almost feels routine now - presumably they're also skipping school. This doesn't mean he's any more of a fan of being manhandled, but there's something kinda funny at someone as slight as Bakura pushing him around. He bets it pisses the Thief King off something terrible.

There's no weapon at least but his glare is almost as sharp, even if it's probably not as intimidating as he wants it to be. Bakura doesn't seem to be trying to retake control, so Jounouchi's stuck with the other Bakura.

"What happened?"

"The second Ryou _mentioned_ the Ring, Atem took control and started a Shadow Game, that's what!"

He sounds angry, but his hands are shaking where they have Jounouchi's collar. He's _scared_ , under all that force. Of course he would be; he was trapped between the person who defeated him twice and the realm of the god who's currently eating away at his soul.

(Maybe he was always scared.)

Damn, put it that way and Jounouchi suddenly feels like a dick for laughing at him at all, even in his head.

He drops Jounouchi and starts pacing the alley, angrily but inaudibly grumbling to himself. Jounouchi rubs at his neck - there's gonna be a red mark for sure, but it's not tender enough to be a bruise. He can't tell if Bakura's trying to figure out what went wrong or if he's still pissed. He lets him go for a bit before grabbing him for a change, by the shoulders and holding him still.

"You're _absolutely sure_ neither one of 'em remembered you?"

Bakura pushes his hands away, though with less force than Jounouchi thought he'd use, taking a step back and running his hand through his bangs in frustration. "I'm sure. Neither one of them would bother hiding their dislike for me."

'Dislike' isn't the word Jounouchi would use, but then again 'hate' wouldn't work either, not with how they were. He remembers finding Yugi curled up in his tent the night after unearthing yet another burial pit in Kul Elna with too many tiny skulls, not able to even bring himself to speak. He doubts Yugi could really hate him so strongly, after that. Or Atem - there's no way he wasn't watching over Yugi.

Did he see how Yugi died? Atem wasn't really a normal human in death. He was the Son of Ra, being a Pharaoh and all. Practically a god in his own right. Maybe it echoed across the reset, making him more protective even if he doesn't know why. Makes sense to Jounouchi; he didn't react so badly to seeing the Ring in the original timeline after all, even after going through Shadi's shenanigans.

_Shadi!_

Now _there's_ someone who could help! He's still not sure who Shadi is, or was, or how to contact him or if he'll remember or...

Yeah, best to put him in the 'maybe' pile, alongside Isis and her Millennium Tauk.

"Let's get something to eat, I don't feel like going to school," Bakura says, interrupting his train of thought. "You're paying."

* * *

 They end up eating chicken skewers from a street vendor, who raises an eyebrow at their uniforms but doesn't look like the type to snitch, especially considering how many skewers Bakura bought. They settle in the park, and the real Bakura doesn't look like he'll be re-emerging any time soon. He's been wondering when the right time was to ask this, and maybe the Thief King knows the answer.

"How come Bakura remembers, but nobody else does? He died like them, so -"

"Ryou didn't die," he interrupts. Then he bolts down an entire skewer in one go and Jounouchi's pretty sure he doesn't even chew 'em. He says it so matter-of-factly too, like Jounouchi's an idiot for ever thinking any version of Bakura would let themselves die. He won't disagree, they're all pretty stubborn.

He ignores that they're apparently on a first name basis with each other. "How do you know? I thought you were trapped in wherever you were."

There's a brief flash of _something_ in his eyes and Jounouchi kinda regrets reminding him of it.

"I can see all of Ryou's memories. He was... in a lot of pain, and if you'd reset just a dozen or so seconds later he'd be dead, but he was definitely still hanging on when you reset."

He resists the urge to ask for details about what happened, especially since Bakura's looking a little green again. He's also quietly glad that Bakura clearly doesn't care about Jounouchi and Yugi's past relationship, since he'd be perfectly aware of _all_ the secret questions they'd asked over the years, or he would've already used them to jab at Jounouchi or Yugi by now.

Changing the subject seems like a good idea, especially since they're eating (well, Jounouchi's eating. Bakura's stuffing his face like he's not eaten in a week).

"Think that's why he remembers?"

Bakura practically jumps at the opportunity and Jounouchi wonders just how long all of this has bothered him as he launches into it. "See, _that's_ what's getting to me. Surely other people survived the attack, but I haven't seen a single person who looks confused or freaked out about it yet. Not only that, but Ryou remembers _all_ of the resets, as do I. If 'being alive' was the only criteria for remembering, then everyone would remember each new reset you've done since as well _._ I remember because I've existed in a state outside of the normal planes of reality, but that doesn't explain Ryou."

"Maybe you-know-who's doing it."

Bakura's glare does nothing to stop his snicker as he says that. His face is totally worth it though.

"I'm not calling _him_ that. And _he_ can't touch Ryou anyway, nor anyone else who's not in _his_ realm. There's something else we're missing, but I can't think what it could be. Something that Ryou did to put himself... out of sync with the Universe, like me."

"The RPG!" Jounouchi suddenly shouts, startling Bakura. It's so obvious! How come he didn't realize it sooner?!

"What about it?"

"The RPG we play with you, man! You don't remember, 'cause you'd already been shut away by Atem, but Bakura totally shattered his soul at the very end in our timeline!"

Bakura's glare from before has nothing on the glare he has now. "Actually, I Do remember him thwarting my dice roll. He broke my dice to wreck my super critical."

Jounouchi ignores how petulant he is. "And then his little White Mage put the parts of Bakura's soul that were inside him back into Bakura!"

At that, Bakura looks thoughtful. "I... _guess_ that could do it? Souls that shatter can't be put back together perfectly so easily, especially not with how little time that NPC would've had before his body died."

That means some pieces of Bakura - the real Bakura - were lost _forever_ back in the original timeline. Jounouchi doubts that Bakura didn't know that that would be the case.

If he even planned on surviving at all...

"He really didn't care what happened to him, did he?"

Bakura falls back, lying on the grass and closing his eyes. "He never has. I know everything that's happened in his life but I still don't think I understand him in the slightest. I don't know why he hasn't thrown me away yet, the same way I don't know why he reclaimed me after Battle City."

Well, _that's_ new. He'd always assumed the Ring had possessed Bakura from afar, somehow. He really doesn't know much about Bakura - either Bakura - after all.

One eye slides back open, looking at Jounouchi. "He's been asleep since this reset began - he couldn't withstand as volatile a Shadow Game as Atem hurled at us, especially without any warning. Don't reset for a little while, okay? He needs to recover."

"Yeah, sure."

Considering he's sat with the ghost who tried to destroy the world via evil death god demon thing, that afternoon sitting in the park was pretty damn peaceful. At the first street lamp of the evening, he flicks the switch.

* * *

 "We were thinking about coming over to your place tomorrow after school to play Monster World, if that's okay with you."

"Sure, I'll see you there! Bye!"

Minus Karita again, and Bakura running off to the bathroom because of the Ring, everything went exactly as last time. He remembers his character sheet from last time, and knowing the rules a little better will definitely give him an edge - or be suspicious as hell, since he shouldn't know the rules to this game yet. Maybe he'll play a different role, just to keep up appearances. Nobody will expect Jounouchi, the Black Mage!

Even trying to distract himself with designing his character doesn't help him get to sleep that night. It's weird; knowing that he's going to be dragged into a Shadow Game, even one he knows he's not in any danger of losing, doesn't make the thought of it any less scary. It'll be the closest any of them have been to _him_ too, since they started resetting.

He's still happy to see a new morning though. He was getting kinda sick of the old one.


	5. Chapter 5

Bakura's house is as organized a mess as he remembers it being. Meticulously kept piles of RPG clutter and those occult looking books he was nose-deep in whenever he had the chance. He's not entirely sure which Bakura opened the door to them, but it's definitely the normal Bakura who's fussing about everyone having enough homemade (fucking _homemade_ ) snacks as everyone puts their characters together. He can't picture Thief King explaining what a _kouign-amann_ is, or how it's different to regular puff pastry. To be fair he doesn't get it either.

He concedes the role of Magician to Anzu's elf the second he remembers it was her final explosive attack that saved all their asses last time. She'd know what to do with it better than him anyway.

The RPG goes a little differently - they actually make it all the way to 'The Dark Master's' castle without the switches taking place, even when they fumble or the enemies get super crits. But then, inevitably, the plucky adventurers cross some imaginary line. Something in Bakura's eyes flickers just a bit, and suddenly the room gets a whole lot bigger and Jounouchi gets to remember how his skin feels when it's replaced with wood. It's a little better than sensing the Shadows at least.

So long as Yugi still voluntarily joins the game and leaves Atem to take his place, this will work. He repeats it in his head, over and over until he does, especially when he realizes the device is still trapped in his pockets, back at his body.

Yugi will finally see 'the other Yugi' for the first time all over again. And he does, and so does everyone else. He looks up at him, wondering if he told Atem his name now, what would that change? Knowing his luck, it'd summon the real Zorc right into Bakura's apartment and he's reasonably sure the deposit won't cover that.

Speaking of Zorc, Bakura's held up his promise so far - he's not appeared yet. He remembers that old figurine used in the first RPG. It's weird, he's always assumed that knowing what the real Zorc looked like would've made that cartoonish thing less scary in retrospect, but if anything the opposite is true. Echoes of the real thing in his design are so painfully obvious now, especially in those creepy staring eyes. But small miracles can happen, since he didn't have that weird snake dick. Maybe he can ask Bakura about that later. Oh man, he can just picture the look on his face...

The Dark Master is kinda weak in comparison. He's perhaps the most stereotypical demon he's ever seen, complete with forked tail and hooves; honestly it's like he just repainted a generic enemy model for an entirely different story. It's almost insulting, especially since Bakura doesn't even bother putting much effort into his line delivery. He could at least _try_!

Not that Atem seems to mind, or really care, as he directs them to attack. The left arm remains a weak point, one easily dismantled by a team that's actually got some decent levels and spells behind them, and a very familiar NPC pulls himself from the wreckage. He offers to join their party again too, without a moment's hesitation.

H _e clearly_ doesn't know about the new truce between Bakura and the Thief King, but he can tell _something_ is different, judging by the glare he fires at him. "How dare you drag more innocent people into this sick game? Where is my master, what have you done with him?"

He reminds himself that the angry healer before them isn't _really_ Bakura, he's just an NPC in this game. Although it's not like he's _wrong_ to yell at him...

The Thief King doesn't flinch. "I don't recall giving you any dialogue options."

Before the NPC can retaliate, Jounouchi grabs his shoulder. "Listen, maybe we shouldn't antagonize this guy -"

The mage rips himself away from Jounouchi's grip, eyes wide with fear, but then suddenly narrowing. "Why don't you look surprised, like the others? Did you know this was going to happen?"

Shit.

He wants to deny it. The others start to defend him, but soon fall silent at his own refusal to answer the question, even Atem and the Bakura above them. Anzu steps forward. "Is that true, Jounouchi...?"

He really, _really_ wants to, but he's just not good enough at lying to pull off one that big. He can't do anything else but nod.

Yugi doesn't say anything at all and that's even worse than Anzu's choked sob and he turns around, desperately wanting to take it back and explain _everything_ but his words freeze in his throat at the force of Atem's eyes from above their world. He's not seeing Yugi's best friend anymore, all he sees is a _traitor_. It's kinda frightening to see how easy it was for Atem to distrust him.

Suddenly he almost feels bad for the people who've made an enemy of Atem before.

Thief King rolls his eyes, reaches out and raps his knuckles on the top of Jounouchi's figurine. It should hurt, but it's kinda muted instead. It's like someone's got a drum on his head and gave it a whack and Atem's visible anger at Bakura touching him is a little reassuring. "You should really be thanking him, kid - I wasn't even going to bother playing some silly game like this, but he convinced me to give you a sporting chance. He did a little digging, connected some dots, and confronted my host after school. Of course, there's only so much those mortals can do against someone like me. I do hope you're a little less... _disappointing_ as my opponent."

If there's one thing both Bakuras are good at, it's lying. It does the trick as Atem's piercing eyes finally, _finally_ , turn away. He's already sick of pretending everything's okay and he doesn't need Atem second guessing him at every turn...

Still, it's like a repeat of what happened with Hirutani and he doesn't want to remind anyone of that shit. Hell, he doesn't want to remember that either.

He feels Yugi's hand grip his arm at his last insult, that familiar ire of someone daring to insult his friends rising up in his eyes and drowning out whatever doubts he had before. It lessens the ache a little, just enough to make it bearable again. When Anzu and Honda take up a sort of defensive formation beside him, he knows he's been forgiven. If they have, then Atem will follow suit, or at least give him a chance.

The other other Bakura's still suspicious of him though, though he turns away when Bakura speaks again. "I think it's time I got to the point of this Shadow Game - if you win, your friends are all released, including my host and all the others I've captured. I'll acknowledge your strength and stay nice and quiet and out of your way. Of course, I'll still assist my host if he should need me."

"And if you win?"

Bakura's lips curl into a very familiar sneer. "Same thing, just that you acknowledge _my_ strength, and stay out of _my_ way." At Atem's pointed stare at the other figurines, he lets out one of his weird loud-quiet cackles. "I seriously don't give a shit about these people, y'know. To be honest, they're not worth the cost of maintaining their paintwork. They're free to go too."

"They're worth more than you'll ever even _begin_ to comprehend."

He's torn between agreeing with him, and bringing up that the Thief King never really got the chance to in the first place.

The dice roll. There was so much cheating in the last game, and they've been playing by the book so much here, that he almost doesn't notice Bakura's hand throw the dice in that specific way. Nobody else does either, and they don't question the fumble, cheering as the figurine trips and smacks itself on the head with its own pitchfork, doing just enough damage that Anzu's spell can once again deal the final blow, dazzling fireworks firing from her hands at the honest super critical.

The other other Bakura just looks confused. He's not taken his eyes off Bakura even after his promise not to harm his friends. But he doesn't get the chance to object, since Jounouchi is pulled back into his own body, along with everyone else and the board falls silent. Bakura's slumped over the desk by the computer screen and like before Atem doesn't hesitate to rush to his side, though perhaps he's a little more guarded than last time.

"Are you alright?"

"I think so... I'm so sorry about that."

"It's alright. The important thing is we're all safe now."

Last time, they scrambled to get Bakura to hospital as blood stained the board and the pain in his hand became rapidly apparent, and spent the night stuck in the waiting room as Bakura's hand was put back together (and it never did heal quite right, he'd seen him rubbing it in cold weather even years later).

This time the board is clean and Bakura's hand is unscathed, and it's just a matter of wondering where the Ring came from (a gift from his father back in Egypt) and if the spirit within will keep his word (of course he will, or he'll face retribution). Most importantly, of _course_ they're still friends, all is forgiven and don't you forget it!

He gets the distinct feeling Atem's relieved at not having to deal any Penalties this time too, though he can't tell where it's coming from.

Everyone relocates to the couch once all the figurines and maps are stowed away. He's never noticed before how easy it was for everyone to slip back into the normal routine after all these crazy events. He kinda feels like an outsider for not being able to follow suit, not that he needs any help with that. Bakura has no trouble pretending, it seems, but he catches his eyes a few times and it helps.

But still. He knows what's coming just around the corner and he can't relax, not completely. Pegasus, Shizuka's eyes, Battle City. And after that...

They're just _kids_.

A bunch of stupid kids talking about school and homework and what games they all like or dislike and all pretending that they didn't just have their lives on the line, that it's not happened dozens of times before and that it's not going to happen again in the near future. They shouldn't be dealing with ANY of this bullshit, and he's including the Kaibas AND the Ishtars in that too. But it's their destiny, apparently. Their 'fate'.

_Fuck_ 'fate'. If someone or something _chose_ for all this shit to happen, chose to erase the people of Kul Elna or desecrate Malik's back, to make Kaiba and Mokuba _orphans_ , that someone or something better hope they never run into him.

He comes back into the conversation when Anzu mentions something about how that 'Duel Monsters' card game's really taken off since Yugi and Kaiba's duel. Come to think of it, he needs to make his deck. He didn't come back with his 'old' one and while it's going to be fun as hell playing the expert he knows it won't feel right until he gets that Red Eyes back.

* * *

It's just Bakura and Jounouchi now, finishing off what few snacks were left behind. Bakura makes the excuse that he wants to talk to Jounouchi about their meeting the day before, which they buy without question. Yugi hangs back for a bit, quietly asking something of Bakura who can only shrug in response, before hugging Jounouchi and saying he'll see him later. He holds onto Yugi maybe a second too long before letting him go.

Officially they need to plan for the upcoming storm, but his brain's a little frazzled. Some little French looking pastry things with chocolate on top and a name he can't even pretend he can pronounce need to be eaten before they spoil in the morning, so he and Bakura wolf them down instead of talking. Damn tasty, though as he chews something less ominous comes to mind. "Wasn't Bakura supposed to surrender before we reach the final boss?"

"He did - 'The Dark One' wasn't the final boss, just one we moved to the gate. If we'd played the campaign properly, you would've met him if you took the dungeon route through the castle. Bakura never bothered with a model for him last time and we didn't have time to make a unique one for this game."

"Oh."

"He's actually a sort of bat-spider hybrid, at least in my preliminary sketches. It's pretty cool, he can inflict poison that does damage to you in relation to how much damage you do to him each turn and if your beast taming abilities are high enough then there's a chance you can end the fight by taming him and -"

Jounouchi shoves one of the pastries in his mouth - yeah, he didn't want to talk about the new future yet but that doesn't mean he's going to let himself be stuck here overnight under the weight of Bakura's extensive bestiary either. Bakura doesn't look too impressed to be interrupted, though that doesn't stop him from eating it anyway.

"I saw you n' Yugi talking before everyone else left. What did he want?"

"He wanted to know what the _real_ point of the game was. To tell the truth, I had no idea what to say."

Of _course_ Yugi would wonder something like that. His grades might be hovering dangerously close to Jounouchi's on a good day but he's smart in a way you can't test on paper, and almost as curious as Bakura is. He's obviously already figured out that the Thief King has no reason to challenge them in the first place, or that he'd be so generous with the terms of the Game, like losing or winning didn't really matter. He even gave Atem a loophole.

They could always chalk it up to territory shenanigans, or sizing up the competition. Yeah, that could work. It's damn well better than 'he's your enemy from three thousand years ago who just got ripped from nothingness and put back a decade in the past, along with two of your friends, and he's decided that the third time ain't the charm so it's easier to just go with it'.

"What's Bakura doing now?"

It's almost cute in a super creepy way how Bakura holds the Ring in his lap like a sleeping kitten. "Just invoking the Shadows put us all at risk of drawing _his_ attention, then when you consider who he was playing against... I think he was shielding us. Now he's just resting."

"Well, wasn't he helpful for once?" It's a little more bitter than he means it to sound, though maybe he does because a few good deeds doesn't make up for what Thief King did to them. Either way Bakura doesn't look offended.

"He's doing more than I've asked of him, and it's better than nothing at all."

"Yeah..."

It's almost midnight now. He should really go home, even though if he remembers correctly, his dad ended up dragging some of his equally drunk friends home that night and he didn't get a wink of sleep.

He doesn't remember falling asleep on the couch, but he's grateful to wake up under a blanket the next morning.


	6. Chapter 6

The days pass faster than he likes. They do homework and play games in equal measure, but they eventually just blur together as he waits for the next trial.

Thief King stays quiet, as per the rules of his loss. He emerges maybe once, and only then because he sensed Atem trying to sense him, and got so offended that Atem assumed he'd violate the terms of their game so soon that he decided to give him a piece of his mind. The fact that he violated those same terms in doing so was apparently lost on him, but maybe the Shadows have a sense of humor about these things because nothing happened. At least, not yet.

Atem seems more prominent this time around, but significantly less approachable. It's not like he's constantly in control like Thief King used to be, by any stretch, just that knowing flicker in the eye of someone who absolutely isn't Yugi every so often. Jounouchi doesn't like it. Maybe it's Thief King being around and not safely banished making him twitchy, maybe he was right before and echoes of Yugi's original fate still scar his soul, but either way it's too much.

Yugi seems smaller somehow, every single time he realizes that 'other Yugi' has taken over without him noticing again. It's scaring him. It's not how things should be. He should be aware of the other's existence, curious and a little unsettled maybe, but not _fearful_. It's almost worse that he can't fool himself into thinking it's just something wrong in his mind that a doctor could fix, he knows _exactly_ what's going on, but can't stop it.

He sometimes wonders how Bakura managed to survive so long, with no one to reassure him that he hadn't missed anything or that they'd happily explain it to him later.

He doesn't want to start resenting Atem for it. He can't, because the moment he does is the moment he gives up on Atem being one of his friends.

Jounouchi doesn't give up, ever.

* * *

Jounouchi's getting thrown off more than he first thought. Little things that must have surely come down to chance before are different, and they add up to even more different things. He leaves school five minutes earlier and notices a limo with the Kaiba Corp. logo driving away from the school grounds. His father is sober on days he remembers him being black-out drunk before, but drunk on some days when he was sober. Bakura gets a phone call from his father an hour later than expected, which is apparently an improvement over his usual two and a half.

But one thing is certain. Tonight, maybe even arriving as they pack up for the day, a videotape will arrive. Pegasus will take advantage of Atem's pride to win, Grandpa will pay the price of losing. They'll make their way to Duelist Kingdom, Yugi with the goal of saving Grandpa and him with Shizuka.

Knowing what's going to happen... Can he really let this play out as it did? When he knows he can stop Grandpa from losing his soul? Can he really sit there and let Yugi suffer under that burden again, knowing he could prevent it with just a touch of a button? What if Grandpa's heart can't take the strain this time, what if old age or the shock catches up with him a little sooner? Atem is harsher, who's to say Pegasus isn't the same?

But if Yugi doesn't go to Duelist Kingdom to retrieve his soul, there's no chance in hell of Jounouchi getting the prize money to save Shizuka's eyes. As much as he hates to admit it, he can't earn the kind of money she needs by himself, not before she goes blind forever and he won't let that happen. Bakura and the others would offer to chip in once they found out, like they did last time, but the pocket change of a bunch of teenagers won't amount to much. And then there's only Kaiba who can save Mokuba and as last time proved, he can't do that alone.

He can't risk Grandpa to save Shizuka. He can't blind Shizuka to spare Grandpa.

He can't even just reset just to see what happens one way or the other; neither Bakura or Thief King have said anything about it to him but he knows how lucky they are that Zorc didn't notice their last Game. He's not putting them through that day again, and who knows how far they might get in either timeline before realizing they'd rather have the other one? All that progress down the drain...

There's a lead weight in his throat, slowly choking him. He's somehow cold even under his jacket.

"You okay, Jounouchi?"

Jounouchi almost falls out of his chair at Yugi's voice. "Y-yeah, I'm good."

"Sure? You look kinda pale."

"M'sure."

His denial doesn't work this time. Yugi reaches out and presses the back of his hand to Jounouchi's forehead, frowning to himself. Yugi did this to him in the original timeline too, when Jounouchi thought he was coming down with a fever right before a tournament. He followed it up with a kiss though, which isn't going to happen this time around no matter how much he could use it.

"Want us to walk you home?" Anzu asks.

Honda nods in agreement as he adds, "We don't want you passing out in the street or anything."

Like hell is he exposing Anzu, or anyone else for that matter, to his dad. He honestly can't remember if he was sober or not today. "I'll just splash some water on my face or somethin' before leaving. You guys go on ahead, I gotta pick some stuff up on the way home anyway."

Before waiting for a reply he leaves, Yugi's eyes burning into his back.

* * *

It doesn't occur to him to check to see if the bathroom is empty before rushing in and dry heaving into the nearest toilet for all he's worth, so Bakura helpfully patting his back and asking if he's alright is a pretty unwelcome shock. Especially since he ends up flat on his ass as he lurches away from the touch.

"Well, are you?"

"I don't know."

He doesn't realize he's repeating himself until Bakura pulls him upright, then Thief King's suddenly in charge and pinches Jounouchi's nose to break the mantra.

This must fall under 'assisting his host should he need him'. Fucking loopholes.

Jounouchi manages to calm himself down and once he can breathe a whole minute without the air hitching in his chest Bakura comes back. He doesn't flinch at the noise or say anything when Jounouchi slams his fist into the wall and it echoes around the bathroom, just looks at him neutrally.

Everything's numb. Did Thief King stab him again and he's just not noticed again? It's like the moments where he knew if he didn't hit the button to reset he never would.

Bakura guides him out of the stall and into the now quiet hallways, setting him down in an empty classroom. They've got about five minutes before the doors lock, not that those would be a problem for Thief King.

"Today's the day Yugi duels Pegasus."

"I see."

"It's the day Grandpa gets his soul stuck inside a radio. He's an old guy, he might not make it this time."

"I remember."

"If Yugi doesn't go to Duelist Kingdom I can't save Shizuka's eyes."

"I'm sure Bakura could steal something we could sell off. You wouldn't believe how many pawn shops are willing to look the other way around here."

He says it so matter-of-factually that Jounouchi can't stop the snort of laughter. It's a short but welcome relief.

"Thanks, but I can't ask either of you to do that."

"If you say so..." His expression changes suddenly, looking a little more grave. "Now, Shizuka would tell you to protect Grandpa, while Grandpa would pick Shizuka over himself, correct?"

He doesn't like where this is going even as he nods, especially as Bakura pulls a coin out of his pocket. "I say, let the coin decide. If you can't pick and they can't pick, this is only fair, right?"

"What?!"

Thief King glares back at him, shushing him as footsteps pass in the hallway. They stay dead quiet until they fade away.

"I knew you'd react like this - now Ryou owes me profiteroles. Thanks, but you still need to get a grip."

"You get a grip! I'm not letting a coin toss decide something like this!" He yanks the coin out of Thief King's hands.

Thief King snatches it back. "Oh for fuck's sake... I'll choose, because you're being a goddamn baby! We follow the original timeline; Grandpa gets radioed, you and Kaiba get to save your bastard siblings and we all go home happy. Now let's go before we get stuck here all night."

It's that fucking simple for Thief King, perhaps Bakura too, and apparently it's good enough for Jounouchi since he can't pull anything out of the static in his brain to counter in the time it takes for the lock to be picked and for them to be out on Domino's streets.

He's screwed up before even beginning. Yugi might be dueling Pegasus right now and his best friend isn't there to support him because he's too busy moping. Hell, he might have already lost or won in the time it's taken Jounouchi to stop being so fucking useless. This whole evening was just pointless. For him, Yugi, even Bakura; he probably had something planned that wasn't Jounouchi wasting everyone's time, once again.

Thief King stays in control, way longer than Jounouchi assumes he would, as they make their way to Jounouchi's. The streets are quiet and it's making him nervous.

"So, uh... why follow the original?"

Thief King holds up his hand and counts off his fingers. "Way easier to predict what's going to happen for the most part, and I want easy access to the Millennium Eye. Then again, the way our _dearest_ Pharaoh's been acting, I wouldn't be surprised if he handles that mess himself..."

Some part of Jounouchi had always known Thief King, or at least the spirit of the Ring, had something to do with what happened to Pegasus. He's not nearly as shocked as he thinks he should be.

"... Ryou won't let me not help Kaiba's stupid brother, so we have to go and save him. He says you have some dragon to collect too..."

Oh, right, the Red Eyes. He probably won't be able to look it in the eye, knowing what it's cost to get it this time. Maybe it'll be able to tell. Maybe this Jounouchi isn't a worthy master this time around.

"... 'Exodia has to drown'? Jeez, dial back on the morbidity, Ryou. That one lady duelist, Mei or whatever, you all have to be nice to her or something? I dunno, he's saying too much too fast."

There's so much riding on Duelist Kingdom... Not just for him. For Yugi and Mai, and Kaiba too.

"Tell Bakura I get it."

Thief King nods, then Bakura takes back control again. He blushes a little. "Sorry about him. He's a little bit blunt."

"But you still agree with him."

"Well, yeah. But he could've said it a lot nicer; there's nothing wrong with a little tact."

Jounouchi slings an arm around Bakura's shoulder. "Nah, I think I needed to hear all that anyway - even if he IS a dick. It's got me focused y'know? If we're picking a new future, I can't keep doing this whenever I get stuck between a rock and a hard place. Just... gotta deal with it, I guess."

Easier said than done.

* * *

"Hey, Jounouchi? I just thought of another problem," Bakura says once they reach Jounouchi's street. Nobody should ever sound anything less than pissed saying that yet Bakura manages to remain pleasantly neutral regardless, like he's reading a vaguely interesting fact from a book or something.

"What?" he murmurs. God, he's tired.

"The Millennium Eye reads minds, correct?"

"... Pretty sure, yeah. Why?"

"What do you think Pegasus will do to us when he reads our minds and realizes we have something that could save his wife?"

...

_Shit._


	7. Chapter 7

There's three worst case outcomes with Pegasus, Jounouchi decides as they plan for tomorrow at his place; the old man's outta town so they have his place to themselves. He's glad neither Bakura decides to comment on the bottles left everywhere - he doesn't remember letting anyone ever stay over in the original timeline, not even Shizuka. Honda once told him that, back when they were dealing with Hirutani's return, they'd opened the unlocked door and had bottles thrown at them for their trouble. It might not have been the most humiliating moment of his life but it came pretty damn close.

The first is what Bakura said; that he finds out about time travel and steals the device to save his wife and damn the rest of the world. The second is that he sees his own death at Thief King's hands and has them all thrown in a dungeon the second they set foot inside the castle, to rot as he pulls off the first scenario anyway.

The third is that he learns how Yugi will defeat him, but that's not such a big deal to Jounouchi. He knows Yugi can pull another victory off, even if both Bakuras are more cautious. That doesn't mean he won't find a way to expose him prior to the duel so Yugi can go in prepared though.

If Pegasus could read every mind all the time he'd go even nuttier, so he probably has to consciously choose who's mind to read. Bakura might be able to disappear into the background (so long as Pegasus doesn't realize he has his own Item) but Jounouchi knows he won't have that luxury. That doesn't stop him from simply poking around everyone's minds out of boredom between turns though.

He'd read Jounouchi's mind during his qualifying duels, no question, and he doubts he'll be able to simply stop thinking about anything but the cards in his hand. All Pegasus needs is one errant thought, one hint that he already knows what Pegasus is capable of, and he'll dig deep as he can. And that's just against Keith; god knows if he will be able to skip the match against Yugi like before. There's no way he'll be able to keep the memories out and he wouldn't be able to trick Pegasus into assuming it was all just wishful thinking. He can't predict Yugi, now that Atem has changed the rules of their relationship. He might _need_ to duel Jounouchi this time.

They have to figure out how to block it. Maybe sheer force of will could do the trick, like it did with Malik's possession. The Ring might be able to at least interfere, but that might only work for Bakura. Two Items clashing is sure to draw attention too.

They could force his ownership of the Eye into the open, try to make a deal where he won't use it and as much as Jounouchi despises the guy, he can at least trust that Pegasus a man of his word. But they have nothing to offer him in return and how the hell are they supposed to 'figure out' that he has the Eye in the first place?

Wait a sec. He knows someone who already thinks Pegasus is a dirty cheat, someone who'd do anything to prove he was robbed. Bandit Keith's grudge would be so easy to exploit! All Jounouchi has to do is sound sincerely angry about Keith's loss and wanting to expose Pegasus for the fraud he is and he'd probably have him in the palm of his hand.

He doesn't like the idea of sucking up to Keith so maybe if he duels and trounces his flunkies again, Keith might respect him as a fellow duelist rather than a pest. He'd have to duel so well that Keith can't be anything but impressed, but he could do it.

Ick. All this shady business makes him feel like he's turning into Kaiba.

"Or I could just break into his castle and take the Eye when he's sleeping," Thief King suggests, entirely unhelpfully, when Jounouchi floats the Keith idea. "It wouldn't be hard."

"How's he supposed to release Gramps' soul if he's dead?"

"I wouldn't kill him this time! He'd be asleep. Besides, I didn't _mean_ to kill him the first time..."

"Sure you didn't. I bet he'll totally snooze while you dig around his eye socket too!"

Thief King grumbles quietly to himself and ignores Jounouchi as he inspects Bakura's deck. They won't be dueling in the tournament but he could use someone around that's familiar with the strategy Jounouchi's more used to now, as much as he's had to prune it down to fit Duelist Kingdom card availability. Even if it means facing Bakura's creepy ass deck.

That said, Thief King sneaking into the castle isn't such a bad idea. Specifically, sneaking in to rescue Mokuba if he gets caught again. His disappearance is being hushed up like crazy, but a few kids at his school were more than willing to blab about not seeing him for a while in exchange for some soda. If they can keep Mokuba from being taken from them the first time around, they won't have to worry. If they lose him, they can get him back.

So long as Thief King can get Mokuba out of Pegasus' clutches and they can keep him safe with them until Kaiba wakes up, that means Kaiba probably won't go after Yugi. It also means Yugi doesn't have to go a second round of being afraid of the other him.

"Hey Thief, how hard would it be to break into Pegasus' castle, grab Mokuba and get back out?"

"Depends on how many bodies he's willing to throw at me. I'd be able to handle a small group, but if I have to protect Mokuba too I'd be overwhelmed before long. I'd estimate... half an hour, tops. If I screw up you can just reset, right? Like a save state."

"Would you do it?"

"Sounds like fun to me. Can't say I've ever stolen a person before, but there's a first time for everything."

Some things really don't change, Jounouchi thinks, as Thief King's smirk spreads across Bakura's face. He doesn't particularly like the idea of reliving the damn RPG _again_ but he'd do it for Mokuba.

He'd relive his whole damn life for Yugi.

* * *

Jounouchi remembers to be cheerful when he comes to class the next day, as well as appropriately shocked at the sight of Grandpa waving out of the screen alongside Bakura. He looks about as chipper as a soul trapped inside a camera can be, as best as anyone can tell with how flickery the screen is. Everything's the same and everything's going to be alright, he thinks, until he finally gets a closer look at Yugi's face once class starts and Anzu and Honda are in their own seats.

He's seen that look in his eyes before, when Atem was willing to call an attack that could have - no, _would have_ \- killed Kaiba. Something had changed in the duel against Pegasus and it wasn't for the better.

He whispers, "You okay?"

He nods stiffly. He doesn't look okay at all. There's thick shadows under his eyes and he clearly hasn't slept. He can't see the Puzzle cord around Yugi's neck.

"We'll get him back," he says as loudly as he dares. Yugi's shoulders relax a little as he nods again. He hopes Anzu and Honda were able to make the same promise last night. When Yugi dozes off in the middle of class, Jounouchi reaches over when the teacher's back is turned and props up his book to hide him. He forces himself to pay attention in class best he can so he can help with his homework later.

Thief King may have made the choice but Jounouchi didn't fight him on it, so he might as well have thrown Grandpa's soul away himself. He's done this to Yugi.

Bakura slips him a note - or at least he thinks it's Bakura. He can't be bothered to tell the difference.

_Stop thinking about it. Tomorrow is the start of the Duelist Kingdom tournament so you have to focus._

It must be nice to be able to shuffle things you don't want to think about out of sight in your head whenever you want, Jounouchi thinks. He's not sure if it's an ability Bakura picked up to deal with the Ring, or something he learned before it ever came into his life.

He manages to get away with letting Yugi sleep for most of the morning. When the bell rings for lunch, he shakes Yugi awake and together they go to the roof. Yugi leans against him as they sit by a wall out of sight of the door.

"What else happened in there, Yugi? And don't say I won't believe you, 'cuz you know I will."

Yugi's silence is answer enough, though really he should've figured that out the moment he saw the Puzzle wasn't on him.

"Was it something to do with that 'other you', the one we met in Bakura's RPG?"

"I think so. This tape showed up at our house, and... And then I woke up. Grandpa was in the radio and on the TV screen were instructions on how to get to Duelist Kingdom for some crazy tournament. I-I think the other me made a bet with Pegasus, and my grandpa was the ante."

That's not what happened. That couldn't have been what happened. Atem might be more suspicious and dangerous this time around, but it was the risk that he'd lose Grandpa's soul in the first place that made him think he had to kill Kaiba. He'd put himself on the line, sure, but would never choose to involve an innocent bystander. Pegasus was the one who took Grandpa's soul hostage. Atem wouldn't have even considered suggesting it.

He just has to hope he can endear Yugi to Atem without giving everything away. He can't imagine a world where Yugi and Atem end up like how Bakura and Thief King were before.

"Could you feel how the other you felt? Like afterwords?"

"A little." Yugi's hand reached up to where the Puzzle would normally rest, his hand closing on the space almost automatically. His eyes widened as he remembered he wasn't wearing it and the way his shoulders sank gave Jounouchi a little hope that he hadn't given up on the Puzzle just yet.

"Then I don't think he chose to put Gramps in danger. I mean, if he's the 'other you', then he's obviously gotta love him too, right? He'd never choose to hurt him because you wouldn't."

But Jounouchi would. Yugi's head leaning against his shoulder doesn't comfort him at all, for the first time ever.

"Thanks, Jounouchi."

He wants that to as well. He wants those words to fill him with joy so badly, but they don't.

He doesn't deserve them.

* * *

That night, the night before they set foot on the boat to Duelist Kingdom, he goes through his deck one last time. He looks at cards he hasn't seen the way he remembers them for years. In his time, the original cards had become precious in their own right when they stopped being printed and the artwork changed. The originals were way too valuable to carry around as part of a normal deck as a result, but in this timeline they're common as anything.

Time Wizard, Baby Dragon, Flame Swordsman...

All he was missing was the Red Eyes. Which he will get back, once he decides how he's gonna get a second place tournament winner to waste their time on a 'newbie' like him, let alone bet his rarest card. He doesn't want to start off on the wrong foot with Mai again, so he can't hope that she'll try and sic Ryuzaki on him.

Maybe they can start things off with Mai earlier for that matter, before they even get on the boat. She'll be expecting them to act like every other jackass she encounters, so hopefully this time she'll be pleasantly surprised.

Or her duelist instincts will recognize him for the threat he really is and make a beeline for taking him out of the tournament right out of the gate. He wouldn't put it past her. That would suck.

Or those same instincts will make her avoid him completely and observe from a distance until she's gotten a good grasp of his skills, so she can take him out at the finals. That would suck even harder.

Everything in his life always ends up coming down to chance, he thinks, as he tries to get some sleep.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So um I remembered I needed to update this here, and a few other fics. I don't want to clog up the tags, so I'll do it in batches over the next couple of days. Sorry!

The crowd around the ferry to Duelist Kingdom feels much smaller than he remembers. Maybe he's gotten used to huge crowds on the tournament circuit, although he's never been as self-conscious as Yugi anyway. Hopefully the tournament buzz kicks in for Yugi soon, and himself too. So far the most exciting moment he's had for the tournament has already come and gone - Yugi offered him the Glory of the King's Hand on the drive over, thanks to Bakura leading the conversation into wondering what the two cards he'd been given meant and damn if it'd been hard enough not to cry _last_ time...

The card is safely hidden inside a secret zip within a hidden pocket this time around. The Thief King's doing at Bakura's order no doubt; he didn't care to think about when or where either one of 'em managed to get hold of Jounouchi's coat long enough to do it, although he does appreciate them remembering that Bandit Keith stole it. So long as he doesn't lose that he's relatively safe from Keith pulling the same trick, even if they do manage to get him on their side. Never trust a cheat.

He barely hears the others chatter around him as he keeps his eye out for one person in particular. Mai. She'll be here, there's no way she wouldn't be. If he can get started on a better foot, then maybe she won't be alone for so long. There's no reason to put Mai through freaks like that player killer or the evil Malik if he can help it, not a single one and fuck whatever decided that either of those should happen to her. In fact, if he ever meets 'fate', he's gonna punch the shit out of it.

When he eventually does spot her, she's a lonely figure surrounded by fans near the gangway. She looks at the ship like she can't quite believe it's there, like she can't believe _she's_ there. She's scanning the crowd in a daze, ignoring her many admirers that hang around.

Then she turns to their group and he can't look away because there's an unmistakable flash of recognition in her eyes, not aimed at the boy who defeated Kaiba, but _him_ and that can only mean one thing. She's been going back with them too, dragged back in time over and over. She's had no way of knowing how long it would last, if anyone remembered her, if anyone remembered the end.

She's been all alone.

_Shit._

She puts her game face on as she approaches, does a similar routine to last time as she confronts Yugi but he's sure only he and Bakura can see the disappointment on her face when Yugi, Anzu and Honda treat her like a stranger, because to them she is. Jounouchi can't bring himself to act the same at all and he knows it'll look weird. But he doesn't really care because, short of flat out saying it, it's the closest way to let her know that he still knows her.

They don't get the chance to talk until much later on, losing each other in the boarding chaos, when night falls and the big name duelists retire to their rooms while everyone else makes do on the floor. True to form, they end up getting the same relatively private but widely considered worst spot on the ship, right by the door leading out to the deck. It's cold and damp and stinks of decades of old shoes and sea water. Sheer excitement about what was to come was surely the only thing that had let any of them get any sleep at all the first time, although Jounouchi might be able to manage it this time around with Yugi leaning on his shoulder.

Mai's voice suddenly cuts through their attempt at dozing. "They're letting you poor things sleep out _here_? That's ridiculous; come with me. I have plenty of room."

* * *

The room is somehow even more lavish than how he'd always imagined it, more like a penthouse suite than a room on a ship - at least Ryuzaki being stupidly easy to seduce into a game he can't win is one constant in this mess. Mai claims the master bedroom, letting Yugi use one of the smaller rooms. Anzu calls the one with a private shower within while Bakura flips a coin to decide who gets the last bedroom and which unlucky two have to sleep on the couches. To only Honda's surprise, he wins the room.

Once the others have fallen asleep, the two of them sneak into Mai's room. She's awake, looking like she hasn't slept in weeks as she flops down to lie flat on the bed, staring at the ceiling listlessly. "Tell me what's happening to us."

Bakura thankfully answers for him, since he's not exactly sure himself. "For a while, your soul was once entirely trapped within the shadows and nothing remained of you besides your body on this plane of existence. It's placed you out of sync, so to speak, so while the universe resets we remain the same. The same thing happened to Jounouchi and myself, along with the other Bakura, although we're not sure why the other Yugi doesn't remember either in that case. Judging by Yugi's grandfather not remembering us, it's safe to assume Kaiba and Mokuba don't either - their souls were sealed in objects, not left to the shadows."

"So it's just us three?"

"Hopefully." Bakura finishes with a shrug. One far too casual given the circumstances. Jounouchi wouldn't wish what's been happening to Mai on anyone. Well, maybe the other Malik.

Jounouchi shows her the device, explains what few plans they have to get the Millennium Items back and try to banish Zorc for good this time. "I'm so sorry for dragging you into all of this Mai."

She covers her face with a hand for a few moments. After a deep sigh, she pushes herself up to rest on her elbows. "It's alright, hon. There's only one person in this room to blame for 'the end of the world round two' and he's already hating it, I bet."

She pulls her deck out from under her pillow and pulls a card out from it. The Red Eyes Black Dragon. "I might've used my psychic abilities one last time to know that this was his rarest card," she says with her first real smile of the evening. "Go on, and don't give me that duelist's honor crap. I'll trade for it if I have to."

He's never been so tempted by a card in his whole life. But he can't do it. He _fought_ for the respect of the Red Eyes and it came through for him time and time again because of it. "Mai, I haven't _earned_ this."

"C'mon, I have a perfectly good theme deck going, I'm not squeezing another dragon in - considering that time travel is real and all, I don't want my own dragon to get jealous or anything and switch itself to defense mode, or whatever."

Just taking it would make it just another monster, so he shakes his head. Mai rolls her eyes at his silent refusal and slips the card into her coat pocket, the one she doesn't keep her deck in. "Fine, then you're not seeing this little lizard again until the finals. And you better be ready to fight for it then."

"No doubt - but you better not surrender!"

Bakura interjects suddenly. "Will you be traveling with us, or going alone?"

She glares at him for the interruption (and Jounouchi wonders if Thief King was responsible for that brief lapse in manners), then thinks to herself. "I think I'll be fine by myself for a while; I don't feel like looking after you kids all day, believe me. I'll show up by the evening, you're all pretty easy to track down."

Makes sense to Jounouchi - sticking around their group limits how many star chips she can get, and it's not until after dark that the player killers come out after all. They can keep a close watch out for anyone suspicious.

Wait. "Kids? We're technically older than you right now!"

"And I'm still technically even older so zip it. I've always ended up babysitting you brats no matter how old we all were."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah, because you can't be trusted! Remember when I was late to Anzu's twenty-fifth because my train was delayed? By the time I got there you and Honda broke the karaoke machine, Anzu was drunk enough to try and steal her own lamp and I found Bakura kissing Kaiba on the stairs, all because you didn't have my watchful eye keeping you out of trouble."

"That was one time and the karaoke machine was broken when we got it out of the basement!"

"A likely story!"

A red faced Bakura drags Jounouchi out of the room before they end up adding another point to their scores, wishing Mai a hasty goodnight.

There were a few moments of silence before Jounouchi couldn't hold back any longer. "You don't just randomly kiss people; how the fuck did _Kaiba_ happen?"

"I could tell you how," Thief King snickers. "Certainly wasn't the first, that's for sure."

"Y'know what? I'm suddenly really tired, let's not."

* * *

Jounouchi assumes that he wakes up before anyone else does, until he sees that Yugi's door is open. He goes out onto the deck and finds him out near the railing just outside their suite alone, talking to that damn worm Haga like he's not a nasty lying scumbag. He makes his way over as Yugi's hands over the Exodia cards, just like he did before, and Jounouchi braces himself for a dive into freezing ocean water not long after.

Would grabbing all but one be worse than only getting one out of the five? Or should he go for the same number he managed to get last time? What if he doesn't get any of them? Can he even make the jump; knowing he's got to jump in is an entirely different beast to jumping on impulse, and those waters look rough. Not to mention he could get sucked into the propeller, or be sent into shock from the cold and sink or something, and then that's the end. Oh shit, is the device even waterproof? Surely it is. No way Kaiba would ship anything that couldn't survive a bomb hitting it, so being dunked in the ocean shouldn't be an issue. Hell, he's pretty sure Kaiba wants to duel up in fucking space.

There's a few more people around this time though as the sun rises across the sea, which is being solidly ignored in favor of observing the winner of the Japanese National tournament having a friendly conversation with the nobody who defeated Seto Kaiba. So perhaps that's why Haga simply flips through the five pieces of Exodia, the unstoppable god of all duel monsters, then returns the cards without a fuss.

"I'll see you on the island, Yugi."

Despite what Bakura had warned, surely keeping Exodia couldn't be that big a deal, right?


End file.
